Screw friction lock for cans



May 28, 1929.

I E. M. FLETCHER A SCREW FRICTION LOCK FOR CANS Filed 001:. 6, 1928 UNITED STATE EUGENE M. PLETCHEE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SCREW FRICTION EOCK FOB CANS.

Application filed October 6, 1928. Serial no. 310,733.

My invention relates to a novel construction of a screw friction lock for tin cans, glass bottles, containers and the like, which have detachable covers and bottoms, the.object of my invention being to provide novel locking and coacting means between the cover or bottom of the container and an end thereof, was to cause said cover or bottom to remain firmly attached to the container body by merely rotating the cover or bottom in a clockwise direction and to cause said cover or bottom to be detached by a rotation thereof in the reverse direction.

My invention further consists of a novel friction screw lock, wherein a stop is provided on the inclined ridges employed to limit the rotary motion of the cover or bottommember with respect to the container body,

while said cover or bottom is being attached to or interlocked on the can or container. 1

To the above ends, my invention consists of a novel construction of a'can, bottle, jar, or

container body having at its periphery terminal, horizontal spaced apart beads or lips of a rounded cross section, in combination with a cover or bottom for said container having spaced inclined ridges pressed inwardly oroutwardly from the annular pendant flange thereof, saidridges being adapted to interlock with the said beads firmly and detachably to secure said cover or bottom with respect to the container body by a clockwise rotation and to disengage from said seg- Inents by a rotation of said cover in the reverse direction. a

My invention further consists in providing said inclined ridges on the 'cover or bottom of a can or: container with spaced lugs or shoulders, the lowermost of which is adapted movement of said cover or bottom with re; 'spect to sand contalner.

to interlock with the rolled bead segmentslon the container, and the. uppermost of which is adapted to act as a stop to arrest the rotarywhich are" pressed from the My invention further consistsin the vari- 'ous other novel features of construction. andcollocation of parts which. will be hereinafter described and claimed. 7

' Forthe purpose of illpstratingmy invention I have shown in the accompanyingv draw- .ings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same hasfbeen found in practice to give satisfactory and re liable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which .my invention-consists can be variously ar-' Figure 2, represents a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3, represents a bottom plan View of the coveror lid. 4

Figure 4, represents a side elevation of the cover shown in Figure 3 with the outside partly broken away to show-the internal construction.

Figure 5, represents a section on line 55 of Figure 6. I

- Figure 6, represents a section on line 66 of Figure 5. v

Figure 7 represents a sectional View similar to that shown in Figure 5, showing a modified construction.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts, 1 designates the body portion of a tin can or similar container, having the annular stifiening bead 2, and being provided with the open 1 top or mouth 3. The upper rim or edge 4 of thecontainer 1 is rolled at intervals to form the spaced apart inwardly and downwardly projecting bead segments 5 of round cross section,t e intermediateportions 6 of said rim being unobstructed as will be understood from Figures and 2. 7 designates a cover or lid, having an outer inverted U-shaped cross section and having the outer endant, annular flange S and the inner pen ant annular body portion 9. The inner annular portion 9 of the cover 7 is provided with the outwardly projecting, spaced, inclined ridges 10 body of said flange as will be understood from Figures 3, 4

1 and 5,\and which are provided on their upper surface with the spaced lugs orshoulders 11-1" and, 12.

"*i'The operation is as: follows 5 The cover 7 is applied-to the top of the receptacle or can- 1 so that the inclined ridges 10, on the inner portion 9 are in alignment with the portions 6 on the upper edge or rim 4- of the container. The cover is then pressed down t9 force the upper edge or rim 4 of the can 1 between the inner portion 9 and the outer flange 8 of said as herecover. The cover? is then rotated from left.

to right until the inclined. ridges'10 are in alignment and in looking engagement'with the beadsegments as will be understood from Figure 5.v In this position of the'cover 7'the foremost or lowermost lugs 11 on the in-' clined ridges 1O engage the underside of the bead segments 5 while the upper or higher lugs 12 serve as stops or abutments to limit.

, the travel or rotation of said cover,.as will d has been sufliciently rotatedand that it is'in properv engagement with the container. M To be understood from Figure '6.

Due tothe springycharacter or resiliency of the rounded bead segments 5, the lugs or shoulders 11 and the ridges 10, it is possible to apply maximum pressure in the rotation of the cover 7 to obtain maximum "frictional engagement between the cover and the container without any damage-to either, and without the risk of permanent, unintended interlocking. By the provision of the higher or upper lug 12, a limit is placed upon, the rotation of the coverto indicate to the user that the cover produce this result the lower lugs 11- are so po-v sitioned as to clear thelower ends of the beads 5 and to engage the undersidesor the bottoms thereof, while the rear lugs 12 are so 'positioned as to abut against the front ends of said beads 5 to limit the rotation of the cover with respect tothe recept'acle. To disengage and remove the'cover-7', itis merely necessary -to-rot.ate the same in the'reverse direction until the ridges 10 clear the bead segments 5, whereupon the cover cangbewithdrawn. y

In Figure 7 Ihave shown a modified construction wherein I employ a container 1, having its upper edge or rim turned or rolled outwardly to form the outwardly projecting bead segments 13 which are s ace'd-apart. In

" this construction I'provide't e inwardly projecting inclined lips 14; which are pressed from the annular pend-ant flange 15 of the cover17 and which are provided with the lugs 16 for engaging the bead segments 13 in the manner heretofore described. In-this' construction the inner pendant portion 9 employedin the embodiment of my invention shown in Figures 3, 4, 5' and 6, is dispensed with, since by providing the outwardly pro-v v jecting bead segments 13 on theu'pper rim or edge of the container 1, it is inerelynec'es sary to provide the outer pendant flange 15 I havingthe inwardly projecting lips 14 and their adj uncts' thus resulting in a simpler construction which will provide the-same degree .of efliciency and which in certain casesmay' bemore desirable In both of the embodiments of my invention above described, I employ-the broad principle of providing horizontal,- spaced apart bead segments, which are adapted to be engaged by inclined spaced ridges provided with spaced to lugs, it being understood that the ridges an their adjuncts and thebead -segments-may be provided on. the top of the container or. on the cover interchangeably without departing from the'scope of my invention; is further apparent that it is within the scope of my invention to employ a cover having a single outer, annular, pendant flange from which the lips or ridges and their adjuncts are pressed, or to employxa cover v having an outer and an inner pendant, annular flange, the lips and their adjuncts being pressed from and carried by one or the other of saidfianges as described and illustrated in the figures of the drawings.

It will thusbe seenthat I have devised a I novel friction screw lock for cans which is of an extremely simple and inexpensive construction and which at the same time provides maximum eiiiciency since it eflects firm locking engagement between the-cover and the can, and which permits of theengagemelit and disengagement of said cover. by merely rotating the-latter through a small fraction of a circle.

It-will further be apparent that friction screw lock is equally applicable to cans or containers which are open at both ends, the construction shown and described connection with'the open top end thereof.

my novel It will .be apparent from Figures 4; and 6 l that theinclined ridges 10 have their upper ends extending 'to the top 7 and enclosed withr in the annular flange 8 so that the lockinglugs 11 and the stop lugs 12 are enclosed be tween the annular body portion 9- and the outer annular flange 8.

v I am aware that the invention may be embodied inother specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not'restrictive, referen e being-had to the appended claimy'rathe than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of'the invention.

. Having thus describedmy invention what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- In a de "cc of the character stated,a container leaving an open mouth, horizontally dispose inwardly projecting lips spaced wardly projecting inclined spaced ridges havspaced lugs formed integral with'and upon the tops of said inclined ridges adapted to en-.

gage .the underside of said lips by a rotary motion of-the former, said lugs forming abutcontainer. I i EU EZ E M. PPETCHER,

123- v ments to straddle one of said stops tov limit I the rotary motion of said cover with respeci to said container andzinterlock the coveran 9o being in such cases applied to the bottom end; j of the can in the manner above set forth in 

